Exhaust headers

[B4ndit]

My 1150GS is starting to look quite good now I have been able to clean most of it.

Still not sure if I can get the exhaust headers shiny. I have tried all the usual suspects, Solvol etc, but this has made no impresion on the colour of the down pipes.

Are there any good cleaning substances or tricks that I might be missing?

 

[John Armstrong]

IF the headers are stainless then Wonder Wheels gets rid of the stain. The Wonder Wheels will trash chromed ones.

 

[B4ndit]

IF the headers are stainless then Wonder Wheels gets rid of the stain. The Wonder Wheels will trash chromed ones.

Niot sure what they are.

Had a bit of a result with rubbing compound. I can at least see my ugly face in them now. Not sure if thats the result I wanted.

Just passing the time until my shocks come back and I can get her back on the road. Not the best weekend to have it in bits, given this lovely weather.

 

[MikeP]

Are there any good cleaning substances or tricks that I might be missing?

If they've got to the point where they are tarnished you'll need to start with something more than polish.

Medium grade wet & dry, (use soapy water) then fine will remove the tarnish. After that polish with Solvol and steel wool, finally with just Solvol or similar.

If polishing with Solvol, strips of thick cardboard help the polishing (dab the paste onto the cardboard).

Lately I've been using this product:

Pre-impregnated polishing strips of abrasive cloth.

TBH, it's not going to do much for badly tarnished pipes but it makes keeping them polished a lot easier. Just take a turn around the pipe and use a pull-pull motion (good on spokes too if they are in need of a polish).

They are Stainless and will look like new with some effort. Once they are polished, they will dull again with use but I find that attention once or twice a year enough to stop them tarnishing again.

 

[B4ndit]

Mike,

Just ordered some of that Luster Lace. Looking forward to cleaning the spokes with it.

 

[Buckingham]

Put a magnet on them - non-magnetic = stainless steel

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

Put a magnet on them - non-magnetic = stainless steel

They are in fact, chromed stainless steel....................

 

[Slipperyeel]

They are in fact, chromed stainless steel....................

Correct! (That's if their oem).

And some series of stainless is magnetic (400) so the magnet trick can be misleading...

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

Correct! (That's if their oem).

99.9% of 1150GS's will be using oem BMW headers as there is no alternative ever made for 1150's, unlike 1200's

Lazer only did a 1150 header system and they're rare

 

[DrAlf]

Lazer only did a 1150 header system and they're rare

Probably because they have a nasty habit of blowing up end cans, get in the way of the centre stand and require complete exhaust system removal to change the oil. Other than that, they're great